The CMA’s Apple and Google Designations Put Red Tape Over Reality, Says ITIF
LONDON & WASHINGTON—Following today’s decision by the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to designate both Apple and Google with Strategic Market Status (SMS) in mobile platforms, the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) released the following statement from Joseph V. Coniglio, director of antitrust and innovation policy:
The CMA has chosen red tape over reality, viewing one of the world's healthiest and most dynamic markets through the rearview mirror. By applying a regulatory toolkit to the mobile ecosystem, the agency ignores the fact that vigorous, feature-for-feature competition, driven by billions in annual R&D, belies any claim of market failure.
What's more, the CMA essentially treats high user satisfaction as a symptom of lock-in. Yet when 15 to 24 percent of users actively consider switching platforms, that is not evidence of insurmountable barriers—it is proof of a vibrant, competitive market where platforms must constantly innovate to keep users satisfied.
By continuing to follow the European Union down the primrose path of regulatory activism, the United Kingdom risks creating unnecessary tensions with a Trump administration that has taken a clear stance against foreign regulations targeting America's leading technology firms.
Contact: Sydney Mack, [email protected]
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The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) is an independent, nonprofit, nonpartisan research and educational institute focusing on the intersection of technological innovation and public policy. Recognized by its peers in the think tank community as the global center of excellence for science and technology policy, ITIF’s mission is to formulate and promote policy solutions that accelerate innovation and boost productivity to spur growth, opportunity, and progress.
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